A millionaire businesswoman has revealed how she escaped war-torn Vietnam on a cramped boat full of refugees where pirates stole all her belongings and threatened to rape her family.
Diem Fuggersberger fled the South-East Asian country with her family at the age of seven – not long after the end of the Vietnam War – to start a new life in Australia, but was forced to live aboard a cramped vessel with 500 other refugees.
The once-penniless Vietnamese refugee who couldn’t speak a word of English is now a wildly successful entrepreneur.
Mrs Fuggersberger, who co-founded food empire Berger Ingredients, told news.com.au of the squalid conditions aboard the boat and said she was even intercepted by vicious pirates who robbed her and threatened to rape her family.
Diem Fuggersberger (pictured) fled the war-torn South-East Asian country with her family at age seven to start a new life in Australia, forced to live aboard a cramped vessel with 500 other refugees
The 46-year-old co-founder of Berger Ingredients recalled to news.com.au the squalid conditions of the boat and said she was even intercepted by vicious pirates who robbed them and threatened to rape her family
‘There was no such thing as your own cabin or toilet so we had to share with 504 people. There was only crackers and snacks and water on the boat, not real meals, because the boat was too small… We had to make sure we made it to shore before we starved or ran out of water,’ Mrs Fuggersberger said.
‘Our boat was intercepted by pirates who took our belongings. They nearly raped my cousins and a few hours later the boat nearly capsized during a very big storm.’
Despite the horrific setbacks, Mrs Fuggersberger and her family made it to safety and took shelter on an Indonesian island, where they remained in a refugee camp for 18 months.
They lived in a house with five other families and the now businesswoman also recalled how she witnessed a fellow refugee commit suicide at the camp and survived an outbreak of malaria.
By the time she was eight the Vietnamese-born family had migrated to Australia – however none of them spoke a word of English, they were all but penniless and only owned the clothes on their backs.
Despite the horrific setbacks, Mrs Fuggersberger and her family made it to safety and took shelter on an Indonesian island, where they remained in a refugee camp for 18 months
By the time she was eight the Vietnamese-born family had migrated to Australia – however none of them spoke a word of English, they were all but penniless and only owned the clothes on their backs
After losing everything she had in the 2009 GFC, Mrs Fuggersberger started all over again (Pictured is a product from Coco & Lucas’ Kitchen)
‘Not knowing the language well enough and living in very poor condition has often tempted people to bully us and make racists remarks. It was a painful time,’ she told Women in Focus in 2012.
After a rocky decade of high-schooling Mrs Fuggersberger went on to marry wealthy businessman Werner Fuggersberger – but their riches were short-lived.
In 2009, and after two kids, the couple lost their $27 million business and family home due to the global financial crisis and the deflated former refugee was in enormous debt and back at square one again.
‘In a way it was kind of worse [than being a refugee] because I had two kids to look after, I had 20 family members out of work who used to work for our previous business, and I was $900,000 in debt,’ she told news.com.au.
In 2009, and after two kids, the couple lost their $27 million business and family home due to the global financial crisis and the deflated former refugee was in enormous debt and back at square one again
In a true testament to her resilience, Mrs Fuggersberger thwarted financial ruins yet again to create her multi-million dollar food companies Berger Ingredients and Coco & Lucas’ Kitchen in 2010.
Berger Ingredients is a successful seasoning and food flavouring business and Coco & Lucas’ Kitchen produces packaged healthy meals for children.
The inspirational entrepreneur also shared some sage words of advice for others struggling to make ends meet in business.
‘When cross roads open before you follow your intuition, trust your instinct and don’t be afraid to choose the tougher path,’ she said.